We're Wild about wildlife

Over on the Anacostia Watershed Society Instagram and Facebook, we've been sharing photos from our wildlife cameras through the years, including Gateway Wetlands, Fort Dupont Park, Dueling Creek, and Kingman Island. 

Inspired by these posts, and recent studies about the threats our local wildlife faces, AWS President Chris Williams recently penned a blog post about the topic.

For more detail about the Anacostia River's specific challenges, we recommend this recent article in the Bay Journal, about the progress of the Anacostia River sediment project. The article highlights the work of Fred Pickney, scientist and longtime river advocate whose work stretches back to the 1980s. First studying the tumors and lesions caused by pollutants in brown bullheads, our native catfish, his work is now focusing on the river's sediment remediation with mummichugs and some mussels provided by the Anacostia Watershed Society and the Harrison Lake hatchery. 

Lastly, read about a couple's battle in Columbia, MD aginast their HOA to preserve their pollinator garden resulted in a new law in Maryland that doesn't require lawns! (archive link) Fertilizers from suburban lawns contribute to pollution in the Anacostia River, and this is the kind of change we need to protect our region's biodiversity.

Join the AWS team!

AWS is seeking a full-time Green Infrastructure Specialist to inspire and inform diverse communities about the Anacostia Watershed, and develop and implement innovative green infrastructure strategies to restore the Anacostia River. If you have the passion to see the Anacostia watershed become a completely river-friendly landscape, then this is the role for you!

It's Environmental Protection Week for the Combined Federal Campaign!

The Anacostia Watershed Society is proud to be part of the Combined Federal Campaign (#88425), and contributors have been an integral part of the Anacostia River's return to health. We are closing out Environmental Protection week, and we celebrate the changemakers who share our vision of a swimmable and fishable future for the river. 

Thank You, Tommy Wells!

We would like to extend a fond farewell and a huge thank you to outgoing DOEE Director Tommy Wells!  Tommy has proven quite the loyal friend to the Anacostia River, overseeing the completion of the Clean Rivers Project initial tunnels, and even getting dirty with AWS out in the field through the years. Thank you, Tommy, for your support of a clean and healthy Anacostia River!

Photos, clockwise from top left: Tommy Wells (center in light blue shirt) at our 35,000 mussel release event in September; Tommy, AWS founder Robert Boone, and AWS Board Member Jim Connolly at our annual fall fundraiser in 2017; and Tommy (far left) with the Fort Mahan AWS Earth Day Cleanup team in 2019.

And a special thanks to you!

We'd like to thank all of our supporters for a fantastic Giving Tuesday! Thanks to enthusiastic river allies like you, we had our most successful Giving Tuesday ever with 120 donors.  We made a fine 2nd place showing  during the evening power hour, and thanks to our donors' and board members' generosity, we surpassed our fundraising goal and raised $31,466 for the Anacostia River.

It's not too late to make your tax-deductibe gift before the year is out!  Use the link below and you can further your commitment to a cleaner, healthier Anacostia River.

RiverSmart Communities Q&A session on Jan 5, 6pm

Do you have questions about RiverSmart communities?  Click here and register for our Q&A session on Jan 5, 2023 at 6pm.

RiverSmart Communities is here to turn the landscape of your place of worship or non-profit into a community-nurturing paradise, and the Anacostia Watershed Society is seeking candidates to apply for the 2023 cohort! AWS is partnering with the Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) to administer the District’s RiverSmart Communities grant program.  This program provides complete financial and technical support to houses of worship and non-profit organizations for installing small-scale, river-friendly landscape features that will beautify your property and provide numerous benefits to our local environment.

Support the Anacostia River with Amazon Smile 

Ordering from Amazon this holiday season? You can  use Amazon Smile to support the Anacostia River while you shop. It's easy!  Just designate the Anacostia Watershed Society as your preferred chartity using the link above, and 5% of the price of eligible purchases will be donated. 

 

Anacostia Watershed Society
4302 Baltimore Avenue | Bladensburg, Maryland 20710
(301) 699-6204 | info@anacostiaws.org

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